The Permanent Forum reiterates its call to all Member States, intergovernmental organizations, the bodies and organizations of the United Nations system, in particular the Inter-Agency Support Group, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to cooperate fully with the preparatory processes and the World Conference.
The Permanent Forum calls upon Member States, guided by the spirit of solidarity with indigenous peoples and consistent with their capabilities, to provide support for the effective implementation of the outcomes of the World Conference in mutually agreed areas of cooperation within the framework of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum expresses concern regarding indigenous young people in situations in which they are increasingly migrating from their communities because of poverty, lack of economic opportunities and climate change. With a focus on Sustainable Development Goal 8, the Forum encourages ILO and IOM, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, to conduct a study, by 2021, on good practices on, opportunities for and challenges in generating culturally appropriate, decent work for indigenous young people. The study should inform the development of programmes and initiatives for indigenous youth employment, both in their communities and in the context of migration.
The Permanent Forum expresses appreciation to Mr. Michael Dodson for his concept paper on traditional knowledge, and recommends that the paper be widely circulated. The Permanent Forum invites States, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and indigenous peoples and their organizations and academic institutions to submit written comments to the secretariat for consideration at the seventh session of the Permanent Forum. The Permanent Forum welcomes the support and notes that the recommendation in paragraph 24 of the report of the Special Rapporteur states that: “the Permanent Forum should commission a study ... to determine whether there ought to be a shift in the focus on the protection of indigenous traditional knowledge away from intellectual property law to protection via customary law ... The study should consider how indigenous traditional knowledge could be protected at an international level by utilizing customary law, including the extent to which customary law should be reflected, thereby providing guidance to States and, subsequently, protection at national and regional levels”. The Permanent Forum would particularly welcome written submissions addressing the above recommendation. The Permanent Forum re-appoints Mr. Dodson as Special Rapporteur to present a follow-up study on indigenous traditional knowledge, taking into account the written submissions, and to present the report to the seventh session of the Permanent Forum in 2008.
The Permanent Forum notes the importance of several concurrent United Nations Decades that are of importance to indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum recommends that the United Nations entities responsible for the international decades declared by the General Assembly, such as the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018–2028, and the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, ensure good communication and coordinate efforts regarding the participation of indigenous peoples and their issues. In this regard, the Permanent Forum recommends that the relevant United Nations entities report to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which, in turn, is invited to prepare a study on the funding, modalities and scale of indigenous peoples’ participation in all four Decades. The Permanent Forum further invites Member States to support and fund cooperation during the four Decades to ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the fact that United Nations entities and bodies, including mandate holders and, notably, OHCHR and the United Nations Environment Programme, take their share of the responsibility to ensure a safe space for Indigenous Peoples participating in United Nations meetings. The Permanent Forum requests that United Nations bodies and entities create an urgent response mechanism to acts of intimidation and reprisals against Indigenous human rights defenders cooperating with the United Nations, in line with existing United Nations guidance on protection and promotion of civic space and the Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights. The Permanent Forum will consider how to strengthen its own response mechanisms and its cooperation with the Assistant SecretaryGeneral for Human Rights, in line with General Assembly resolution 77/203, on this pressing matter, including through the appointment of focal points.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the decision by the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization to establish a mechanism for the participation of Indigenous Peoples. The Forum recommends that States members of the Treaty Organization guarantee the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in all processes with a view to developing the operational structure of the mechanism. The Forum invites the Treaty Organization to present a progress report at the next session of the Forum in 2025. The Forum welcomes the opportunity to provide its expertise to the Treaty Organization.